The Avenger
by Frozen Melons
Summary: Avengers Pirate AU - With Captain Anthony Stark as captain on the ship, The Avenger, they head out to sea after getting a tip off on The Beast of Rage Green's location. Of course, nothing is as easy as it seems. Inspired by the Avengers Pirate AU on Tumblr.
1. Welcome Abroad M'lady

**AN: Inspired by this AU on Tumblr by Oldshellhead: ** post/23724150626/capsiicle-asked-robert-downey-jr-as-a-captain

**I just really wanted to see it written, but I haven't found any that have been written, so I wrote it myself for the fun of it. It should be sort of historically accurate. The Avengers don't always say stuff like Arrr and Ahoy because of the way they were raised. So... have fun and review please!**

* * *

Captain Anthony Stark of _The Avenger _was one of the most feared pirates of all the seas. It was his thirst for knowledge and adventure that led him on his wild chase today. His brain was decades ahead of the modern era as shown by his metal arm and various weapons that were not seen anywhere else. He only invented the best weapons for his handpicked crew of four outstanding men. Even though four was an incredibly small number for the massive crew ship, they managed to make it work.

Steven Rogers was his first mate. He had the mighty strength of at least five men and the healing properties of them as well. They say he earned his strength through the fabled Waters of Strength, but he has never denied nor confirmed the act. Nevertheless, he was worthy of being the first mate. Whenever Captain Stark was occupied, Stephen would take over as captain. The two were incredibly competitive when it comes to everything, but in the end, they were ready to help the other up. Under the leadership of the two men, there has never been a single mutiny.

Clinton Barton was born to ride the waves of the sea. He had a perfect aim with the throwing knives and impeccable swordsmanship. He had the roles of a sailing master and the master gunner. Clint's sight was legendary, for he was able to spot ships perfectly from many miles away and guide _The Avenger _out of the foggiest of mist. He worked efficiently and had the wondrous ability to tell the most fantastic tales of when he was a lad.

Thor Odinson was the latest crewmember. Though he was born the son of a wealthy man, he was exceptional at carpentry and strategic planning. Thor claimed he grew up learning the insides and outsides of a ship because he was the heir to the throne of Asgard, the mystical land no one has ever seen. Despite that, Stark welcomed the man on board. When questioned about the act, the captain simply said, "A man who can wield the might of thunder is surely from Asgard."

The crew of _The Avenger _has been on many voyages into the unknown, and today was no different. They were docked at a town because upon Clint's insisting, there was a woman there that could help their quest to find The Beast of Rage Green. They had been docked for two days, and still no sign of the red haired woman. They were all in their wooden-metal ship when a sound from the captain's quarters jerked the entire crew awake. Clint was the first to arrive at the wooden door. Next came Steve, who was brandishing his sward rather threateningly.

"What's happening?" Steve hissed to Clint.

Clint pushed open the slightly ajar door and replied, "I'm not sure."

"What is happening?" the unmistakable sound of Thor boomed across the deck.

"Thor be quiet!" the two men whispered to Thor.

"Oh come on in, we're just having a nice chat," a voice flowed out from the room.

The crew hesitated, but soon pushed the door fully out to reveal a stunning red headed woman at the tip of a sword's blade. There was a barely noticeable gasp from Barton as she turned slightly to look at them.

"Is this your girl?" Captain Stark asked Clint.

"Aye, she is the one we were looking for, but I assure you, we were just old mates from my past," Clint answered.

"Ah, such a shame, she's a beauty,"

The girl rolled her eyes almost in a bored manner, as if she was constantly held at sword point. Just to amuse Stark, she looked at Clint, smiled, and twirled her fingers playfully at him. In return, he sighed and crossed his arms, but his eyes twinkled to their shared past.

"Can you please put the sword down, Captain?" she asked in a sweet and polite tone.

"And tell me, woman, why is that I should spare your life?"

"Because I know where he is, Captain. The one you seek with such wild abandon. The Beast of Rage Green."

"Many men have claimed to know as much at the point of my sword. They are now many _dead _men. Why then should I trust the words of a woman?"

"His name is Banner."

Stark suddenly paused in astonishment before replying, "Welcome aboard _The Avenger_, m'lady."

"My name is Natasha Romanoff," she said before heading out the door.

The rest of the crewmembers stared dumbstruck after her.

Tony clapped his hands and said, "Well! Get some shut eye lads, for we're setting off on the morrow."

The Avengers, as they have dubbed themselves, filed out. Before Clint could leave the room, Tony called him back.

"Yes sir?"

"She's a fine one she is. Is she the one you've spoke of so much in your youth?"

"Aye."

"Well lad," Clint frowned at the captain's constant referring of the crew as children, "can you fish out the location of The Beast of Rage Green from her? I believe it would be best if you talked to her and showed her around instead of me because I have some work to do."

Tony winked as Clint stepped out the door. He immediately started towards the sleeping quarters of the ship. The light haired man looked at the several empty rooms before choosing the one closest to the edge of the ship. As soon as he opened the door, he saw the blade of a knife come down next to his throat.

"Hello, Tasha," he greeted.

"Clint! One should know better to knock before coming in my quarters," she muttered before letting him in and closing the door.

"I wonder, why is that you have taken up this quest with us so easily? You have never done so before,"

"It is because I too wish to slay The Beast. He has caused much destruction to many towns I have seen."

"Ah. I also wonder if you know his location now?"

She bit the bottom of her red lip and confessed, "I do not know as of now, but we both know I have the gift of secrecy and discovering the location of those unknown."

Clint nodded in understanding and asked, "Why is it that you speak that name and the captain sees you as an ally? I've never heard of The Beast as Banner. What's the tale there?"

"Only a select people know of Banner. We select few are more reliable when it comes to information. It seems Stark has done his searching well, or else he would've never known of the name and I would be off on my way. See, the tale starts out with a man named Bruce Banner. They say he tried to find the fabled Waters of Strength after the news of Steve's myth traveled around like a swarm of mosquitoes. They say he had found it, but he had chosen the wrong goblet to drink out of and became The Beast of Green Rage.

"I have not yet found if he can still be Banner, but I say the chances are low. There has not been a single hair of Banner, but as you know, The Beast has already left its mark over towns of rubble and a young girl by the name of Betty Ross. They say the two were quite a pair before The Beast came and tore her apart.

"There are even more tales of The Beast in frightening detail. They say his cursed green skin would never be pierced by any sword or bullet. It seems it is true, for it has withstood the entire naval force. Of course, Clint, you probably already know it is like no other."

"How shall we go upon slaying it, then?"

"I believe poison would work, since it has walked out of burning villages with not a sight of a scratch on him, but if he is able to revert back to Banner, it would make the task much easier."

Clint nodded and then asked, "How about I introduce you to the rest of the crew eh?"

Natasha agreed and the two stepped out of the room. It was dark under the ship, but there were still faint traces of moonlight spread across the floor as lighting. The ship rocked back and forth in a calming motion. The floorboards creaked slightly as the pair made over to the first mate's quarters. If anyone had been there, they could have said the two were a beautiful couple under the starlight. Said person would then be found dead by the crack of dawn tomorrow. After they had made it to Rogers' room, Clint knocked softly and watched as the door was opened carefully to reveal the neat room of Steven Rogers.

"Hello Clint, hello ma'am," Steve greeted.

Clint led the woman into Steve's quarters and said, "Natasha, here is Steve, the second in command."

Steve smiled and the two left him to his rest. The old friends headed toward's Thor's cabin, but were saved of having to knock when the door was flung open by the Asgardian. He looked quite happy and was delighted to meet the newest crewmember. The blonde walked over the red head and kissed her hand. Natasha was amused by this gesture, for it was only common to be done by those in the higher order of the world.

"Greetings lady Natasha and sailing master Barton," the man acknowledged.

"Natasha, this here is Thor. He is our carpenter and from Asgard," Clint explained.

"Why hello Thor," Natasha said pleasantly.

"Is Natasha fit for sea work? It seems that she is given by her past, Clint," Thor asked.

Before Clint could answer for her, Natasha told, "I am able to command the cannons and I am excellent with both a sword and gun."

"Ah! A mighty lass fit for the role of a sailor! Lady Natasha, you bring me memories of lady Sif, a woman quite like you in my home in Asgard," Thor complemented.

The two said their goodnights and separated. Natasha returned to her room, and Clint headed off to find the captain and give him the information he needed. Clint silently walked over to his room to find that it was devoid of all life forms. Frowning, Clint headed up onto the deck. Sometimes Captain Tony would watch the stars and invent before resting. Clint was met with nothing but moonlight when he came up to the deck. The sails were folded and the floor was clean, but there was no sign of Stark. The light haired man suddenly noticed a note pinned to one of the masts. He plucked it from the wood and began reading. It was writing rather hurriedly by Stark.

It said, "Do not worry Avengers! I'll be back in a few. I just have some business to attend to with the Navy, 'tis all. Being a well-known pirate has some disadvantages. Get some shuteye Hawky. We'll discuss sailing tomorrow. Captain Anthony Stark."

Clint repined the note and headed to his room. He chuckled on the way back thinking about all of the curses Stark was going to throw in the Navy's direction in the morning. It wasn't unlike Stark to suddenly disappear into some fancy meeting with the captains of the Navy, especially when _The Avenger _was as famous as it is. Clint smiled softly as he fell asleep to the quiet squawks of the seagulls.


	2. Does This Make My Head Look Fat?

Captain Stark really loathed the meetings with the Navy. Most of the time all they had to say was how much damage he had caused to their fleet. As if he would even listen to them. In fact, he was the only pirate there because he was the most well known and had too much power for their liking. Heck, they even had to bribe him to come and discuss boring things with the all mighty captain. Nevertheless, there were always many threats when a meeting was approaching and they needed Stark in on it. Today, Stark actually looked forward to it. He slinked off his ship after Natasha and Clint had left and into the quiet town. He couldn't wait to boast about his future triumph with The Beast of Green Rage to them and watch their reactions. Too bad they were setting off at the crack of dawn, Tony really wanted to see the newspaper headlines. He walked in the peacefulness and breathed in the salty air. There were only two living souls out on the street, and they were the two guards to the government building. As the captain approached them, they let him through without much trouble.

He entered the large building of SHIELD, an organization that was like the Navy, and even preferred to be called the Navy, but Tony knew better. It was an organization full of deceit, lies, and spies under a man called Nick Fury. His boots made loud thumping noises on the polished floor. Stark entered the war room only to be greeted by angry men.

"Your late!" the man in a long and elegant blue coat growled.

"I believe the term is fashionably late, Fury," Tony smirked as he sat in the clean chair that was for him.

Fury glared at him before returning to the conversation going on with the rest of the members. Tony couldn't concentrate on a single word they said partly because they were stupid and boring and the other part because of the amount of ideas running through his head. He yawned and stood up, much to everyone's annoyance, and walked over to some of the uniforms hanging as decorations.

"Sit down," Fury commanded.

Tony grabbed one of the wig-hats and put it on saying, "Does this make my head look fat? I don't believe a fat head would look good. Do you Nicky?"

"Stark," Fury growled, "put that down."

Tony pouted and put the hat back on top of the mannequin. He stared at it for a long time. After loosing the staring contest, he tilted the hat a little and sat back down, smiling like a lunatic.

"Before you do anything else stupid, how is the search coming along, Stark?"

"Oh you know. It's all sunshine and butterflies."

"Stark."

"I have the location of The Beast. We're setting off on the 'morrow. We also brought in the one woman, Natasha. I say, I bet you wished you were me, aye Nicky ol' pal?"

The entire room gasped. Stark's smile stretched even further when they didn't even think that he would even find The Beast of Rage Green. He looked at his shiny metal arm and flexed it.

"Excellent. You can collect your 1 million reward when you bring it in. If you bring it in alive, we'll add a bonus five hundred thousand. Stark, what did you do to that arm of yours this time?" Fury sighed when he saw the metal arm looked different from the last meeting.

Tony ran his right hand over the gleaming metal of the arm and replied, "I do not understand your question. My arm looks the same to me."

"There is a small hole in the metal, Captain. It looks as if you have combined a gun and your arm," Fury pointed out.

Tony pointed his metal arm toward's one of the ugly paintings before firing a bullet with his arm. There was a loud sound of gunfire and a new hole in the painting. Tony winced internally at how bad the aim was with his arm and made a mental note to fix it.

"Oh this hole?" Tony smugly asked the spooked members.

"Meeting dismissed," Fury grumbled.

Tony sauntered out of the room and headed back towards his glorious ship.

* * *

Steve tossed and turned in his sleep. He was desperately hoping to wake up from his nightmares, but it seemed they have Steve right in their hands. The nightmares kept replaying the night Bucky had fallen into the shark-infested waters during a fight with the Red Skull, a monstrous pirate of his time. He kept seeing the water grow dangerously blood red and the thought of it all made Steve queasy on the rocking ship. He yelled for Bucky to come back. He yelled for some miracle to come and rescue Bucky. It never came. Suddenly, Steve fell into the cold shark infested waters. The sharks swarm around him with looks of destruction.

"Nooo," Steve wailed in the water as the sharks swam around him and shook him.

"Steve!" a voice called out.

The first mate woke in cold sweat. Clint was shaking the pirate by the shoulders, and Steve was grateful it was all a dream. He was breathing deeply and trying to focus on the scars littering Clint's face. The sandy haired man relaxed when he saw that Steve was alright. He let go of the blonde's shoulders and sat at the side of his bed. For a few minutes there was comfortable silence.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Clint broke the silence.

Steve hesitated, but then nodded. He never told anyone of what really happened in his past. He felt it was about time to do so.

"I dreamed of a friend. His name is Bucky. We were comrades since the day I was born, basically. I had dreamt of the fateful battle with the Red Skull. Bucky, he," Steve's voice caught in his throat, "he was pushed off and into the shark infested waters. He died that day."

"Ah. I too have seen someone die, but I've already told you that story. Wait, wasn't the Red Skull the wrenched pirate from about uh, 70 years ago?"

"Aye, he was. I am not truly born into your time. I was frozen by some sort of curse for 70 years. I'm the only survivor of my time."

"That's amazing."

"Aye, it is, but I do not have any of my friends in hand with me today. Not Peggy, and certainly not Bucky."

"Ah," Clint murmured.

Steve was grateful that Clint didn't press the issue any farther or try to make him feel better by saying, "I'm sorry." Steve shook off the nightmare and headed towards the deck with Clint, since there were traces of sunshine in his room. Captain Stark was already up on deck wearing a large black feathered hat and another fancy tailored coat. They all had garments of the same style, but none of them ever felt right wearing Tony's charity. Natasha and Thor were up as well.

"Here comes the sleepyheads!" Tony yelled over to the two.

Clint stuck his tongue out childishly and Steve rolled his eyes. They made over to the rest of the crew, who were gathered around a set of maps on the floor. Steve sighed in exasperation. Tony was too lazy to bring the maps to the sailing room again.

"So where's The Beast?" Captain Tony asked Clint.

"Ah, well-" Clint started.

"I'll need to take a plunge in the water to figure that out," Natasha smoothly interjected.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked quizzically.

"I have the gift of the sea. I am able to listen to the waters and learn of many voyages," she replied.

"Ah. Go on, jump into the water and do your mystical water thing," Tony said while making a mental note to do further research on it.

Natasha glared at Tony before running across the deck and diving for the water. The warm sea engulfed her like a large, wet blanket. She opened her eyes to the sea green floor. There were beautiful schools of fish swimming peacefully by. Natasha listened carefully. The ocean told her of a man drowning westward. She heard the sea whisper a melodic song of two lovers voyaging to the south. The red haired maiden blocked all of the worthless nonsense out and tried to listen for anything useful. There! She caught it. The flowing water spoke of how The Beast was last on the water heading to a small town called Castenine.

She swam to the surface as her last breath of oxygen was used up. She waved to the men on top of _The Avenger _for a rope to climb back on. She had to admire the gleaming glory of Captain Tony's ship. It was well polished and had amazing designs on it. The rope came down and Natasha climbed up like a monkey climbing up a tree.

"Well? Have you found out where The Beast of Rage Green is?" Tony demanded.

"Aye, he was last on the water heading to a town called Castenine. I believe it is well hidden in the east," she reported.

"Natasha, Clint, head to the sailing room. Show me where this Castenine is," Tony told them. "The rest of ye, get ready to set sail!"

The Avengers hurried off to prepare for sailing while the three made their way towards the "sailing room". The room was quite small and much drier than any other area of the ship. There were maps scattered all over the floor and table. The walls were covered with crudely drawn maps of the entire world. Each map was signed off with either Clinton Barton, Steven Rogers, or Captain Anthony Stark. Clint was rather proud of the accuracy of his maps, so he always looked forward to the sailing room. He and Natasha stood on the far end of the room, and Tony stood near the entrance. The captain grabbed a piece of parchment out of his rear pocket and unfurled it on the table. Natasha immediately started looking for Castenine on the map. The map was littered with all sorts of islands.

"Where is Castenine? I've never heard a single letter of it," Tony asked Natasha.

Natasha pointed to one of the bigger islands and said, "If this is us, then Castenine is over here."

She slid her finger east from their current location and landed in a spot where there wasn't anything on the map. The two men furrowed their brow. Tony picked up a pencil from the floor and drew a couple of dots around her finger. He smiled in satisfaction while Clint and Natasha looked at him as if he was defacing a royal painting.

"What? There wasn't anything to mark the land, so I took the liberty of doing it myself," he explained under their stares.

Clint and Natasha muttered something unintelligible to Tony's ears and left the room. Tony walked onto the deck with an air of elegance and began barking orders. Thor hoisted the anchor up and Steve pulled the sails down. They were out on the seas. Captain Stark took the wheel and began their voyage to Cas-whatever.

"Arrrhahaha! Here she comes! _The Avenger_!" Tony laughed heartily as the ship left the dock.


End file.
